Farm Fresh Interview Questions
Interviewee: Store Director of Farm Fresh #40(201 W. 21 st Street) Terri
Estill
Food Lion District Manager for 15 years and has been in the position of Store Director for 1 year.
1.) How many shoppers do you usually have in the store at one time?
Weekly 12,000
Daily 1,700
2.) How many shopping carts does each store have?
On average 150 per store (walk offs occur)
3.) What features do you think would be important for our product to have (nutrition information, etc.)?
Nutrition facts, past product purchases (product history), running cart total
4.) How would Farm Fresh fell about a technical device on the shopping cart?
Yes, “The President of the company always wants the company to be on the cutting edge of everything.”
5.) Why does Farm Fresh not use shopping cards?
“We had them a few years back, but did away with them.” Terri indicated that they no longer have these cards because (per president) Farm Fresh already offers the lowest prices to their customers so they did away with the need for cards. “Why offer them if we already offer the lowest prices to the customers already.” (courtesy to the customers)
6.) How does Farm Fresh perform data collection on their customers?
Terri explained that Farm Fresh puts out a survey once a year to their customers called a “Spotting Survey.” 500 surveys per store. Last survey was issued in the beginning of February of this year. (usually given around the beginning of the year) The survey consist of questions such as: where do they(the customer) shop, age, how many dependents, what they spend on average during a shopping trip…etc.
7.) How does Farm Fresh use this data?
Use if for demographic reasons such as: where to put a new store, possibly remodel existing store, compare data to previous years to see what other things can be offered to ensure the happiness of the customer.
8.) How much money does Farm Fresh make off advertisements?
****waiting on corporate office response
9.) How much does Farm Fresh charge for advertising?
****waiting on corporate office response
10.) How successful is the online shopping feature for the consumers?
“Successful thus far.” Terri explained that it is dependent upon the location also. On average the Norfolk 21 st store averages 5 pick ups a week versus the Virginia Beach store which averages 20 pick ups a week

11.) How does each Farm Fresh store vary sales wise?
*****waiting on corporate response
12.) Who are your major contributors to Farm Fresh Stores (i.e products advertisements)? See question 26
Pepsi, Coke, Kraft
13.) What days of the week do you have the most traffic? (i.e peak period)
“Saturdays are the busiest days.”
14.) What hour of the day do you have the most traffic?
“Usually between the hours of 2pm-4pm.” ( also dependent on factors such as time of the year, weather, etc.)
15.) What new technologies has Farm Fresh incorporated into their stores? What have they considered?
“Yes, because again Farm Fresh likes to be on the cutting edge.” “Farm Fresh has played around with implementing a base ordering system that indicates the need to replenish items that are not in-stock on the shelves(automatically). Also thought about self scanners as well.
16.) Could we survey your customers?
***waiting on response/permission from corporate office(Terri indicated that is should not be a problem)
17.) Could we take photographs in your store for our presentation?
***waiting on response/permission from corporate office (Terri indicated that it should not be a problem.
18.) How many items do you have in the store?
Over 100,000 different items (also # of items depends on the store)
19.) Do you have a means to locate items located throughout the store (database access, digital map)
NO
20.) How often do shoppers ask for locations of items?
Terri said, “All the time.”
21.) Is the goal of grocery stores to keep the shopper “confused” and looking for products? Or would it be willing to assist the shopper by offering the PSA?
“No our goal is not to keep the shopper confused.” “We always look for ways to make it more convenient for the customer, because the more convenient it is for the customer the better.” “Customers hate it when they come in and a product has been relocated, because they were use to going to that particular spot in the store for that item for possibly years.” Terri indicated that from his experience that the
PSA would be a helpful device for the customer. “If product location is a feature, customers would love it.” Would be willing to assist customer by offering PSA.
22.) Have you noticed shoppers using PDA’s while shopping?
“Yes I have seen them being used.” Terri indicated based on their location near downtown Norfolk, he gets a lot of business men and women come thru and he has seen them pull them out and use them. (possibly maybe in a hurry)
23.) Have you heard of the Safeway Magellen or the Klever Kart? Your thoughts…
“Yes I have.” Terri sees it as a nice option for the customer, however it is not a necessity.
24.) Would a running cart total assist shoppers? “Yes definitely.”

25.) What problem do you think the PSA could solve (problem statement help)
Help with product placement, and running totals.
Are shoppers looking for a better way to shop?
“Of course, always.” “Most customers want to get in and out.”
Are shoppers looking for an enhancement to their shopping experience
“Yes, anything that makes it more convenient.”
Are shoppers looking for better customer service (would the PSA help with this)
“Yes”
Are shoppers asking for more technology in the storing easier.”
“Possibly, if it can make shopping easier.”
26.) Besides sales, how does Farm Fresh revenue?
“Slotting fees- charged to put new items on the shelf(millions of dollars), promotional displays-(for additional items).” “Eye level more money(product placement)
Through advertising? ***awaiting more info from corporate
Through selling data information? ***awaiting more info from corporate
Through selling prime locations in the store? ***awaiting more info from corporate How much do they charge for prime “real estate”? ***awaiting more info from corporate How do they know what these locations are? ***awaiting more info from corporate
27.) Would your shoppers want to shop faster (with the PSA) , would that be beneficial or detrimental to Farm Fresh? Yes. “It would beneficial, we try to offer fast check out service and this could help. “I used to work for Food Lion, and I must say Farm Fresh puts more money into the pay roll in order to assist shoppers in fast check out. (want to get them in and out quickly.)
28.) What is the company’s vision statement?
Our customer is our main focus and we are committed to providing quality.
29.) Do most shoppers use shopping lists? “I believe the answer would be yes.” Do you think that these are often misplaced and not brought to the store? Yes
30.) Would having a virtual shopping list help to increase revenue? “Yes, actually from our website customers send their shopping lists, so we actually have something like that in place.”
31.) Do you believe the increase uses of the internet for on-line shopping has affected instore business?
“Yes, but it is minimal at this point.” In what ways? “It shows the customer we are working on ways to make shopping as convenient as possible.”
32.) The Farm Fresh website offers many useful features such as price comparisons, food safety information and weekly specials. Do you believe access to these features while shopping in the store would benefit the customer and possibly increase sales? Yes, it could.” What features do you think would be most beneficial/useful? Refer to question 3.

33.) How does Farm Fresh view increasing technology in the store? Do you think it will alienate those “non-technical” customers? Do you think it would attract new customers?
What type of customers (age, gender, social status) do you think this technology would attract?
“We are for it because Farm Fresh always wants to be on the cutting edge.” “No t will not alienate them if they cannot work it they will just ignore it.” Yes it has the potential of attracting new customers. “Younger to middle age would probably be attracted to it, gender would vary, social status would be dependent upon the location of the store.
34.)Based on current shopper demographic data, what type of customer (age, gender, social ) is most/least likely to shop at Farm Fresh?***waiting on corporate response
35.) What are other sources that would be available for me to use to gather more information on Farm Fresh as it pertains to our project? **Susan Mayo, Head of
Consumer Affairs, telephone: 306-2080